It's certainly not true that everything is political; it's just that, in sports as in so much else, almost nobody objects to the things that are political unless they disagree with the politics. As an ESPN watcher, I don't pay much attention to the politics -- any of the politics -- but I swallow the ordinary political stuff and, when some out of the ordinary political stuff happens, wait for people who object to the out-of-the-ordinary politics to whine about keeping the politics, that is to say, somebody else's politics, out of sports. I'm never disappointed.
There is, to be sure, a principled case for keeping all sorts of politics out of sports, but the decision-makers aren't interested in principle; they're interested in what sells their product.
Just gathering information here. How many of you have ever been in an armed civilian defense situation? If you have, what weapon did you have? How many shots did you fire?
There's blackface and there's blackface. My African-American in-laws and friends tell me they have no problem with blackface that is, for example, a respectful homage to an actual black person (I have threatened for years to do Tina Turner, complete with music, but I'd have to shave my facial hair so I haven't followed through), but object to stereotypical "coon" portrayals.
O'Sullivan's law, for those who don't recognize the name, is that any organization that does not start out explicitly right-wing gradually becomes left wing. That's true because, as a different cliche has it, reality has a liberal bias.
Remember all the slurs against the personal character of Robert Bork? I didn't think so. There was a great deal of discussion -- some of it rather heated and more rhetorically purple that some would like, but little of it actually false -- about his record and stated judicial philosophy. How dare anyone criticize the record and stated judicial philosophy of a Supreme Court candidate.
This Birth of a Nation/Gone With the Wind version of the Civil War era is what I got in K-12 in the 60's and 70's, even though I was living in what had been a hotbed of abolitionist activity -- perhaps the last progressive impulse in central New York.
On the whole, I find general-purpose pundits worse than useless. What do they know that makes me want their advice on anything? Some of the more specialized pundits occasionally provide me with useful information or analysis, but this is rare. One of my persistent fantasies -- for whatever it says about my fantasy life -- is to host a cable news talk show in which I sit at a barstool, identify some burning issue of the day, say that because I don't have the relevant information, I don't have an opinion on it -- and it's likely that you don't, and therefore shouldn't, either. Let's wait and see.
Probably wouldn't last long. Maybe I'd invite useless general-purpose pundits on and when they bloviate, I'd ask them if they have any actual information. That might make it more fun.
Back in the 80's, a lot of people, me included, thought more uniformity and predictability in sentencing was a good idea. Still do. But I, and others, underestimated the political incentives for outlandishly high mandatory minimum sentences. So now, with conspicuous exceptions, sentences aren't arbitrary or surprising, but they're generally too damn high.
Exactly. For all but the worst violent crimes, as a rule of thumb I'd say 5 years is more than enough, and usually a lot less. When Manafort was sentenced, to much predictable outrage, my position was that I'd like to live in a world where Manafort's sentence was appropriate, but I saw no reason that he should be the first person to get to live in that world.
My wife and I honeymooned in Spain in 1992. To our surprise, we found that in Seville pizza was popular and excellent. It was the thin-crust style. I don't know if that is still the case, but we hope to find out sometime soon.
It is hard to imagine that a soda jerk could sustain the apparent lifestyle portrayed in the cartoon -- though it is always heartening to see people who take pride in their ability to do their humble work well.
On “Sports and Politics: 1869 and 2019”
It's certainly not true that everything is political; it's just that, in sports as in so much else, almost nobody objects to the things that are political unless they disagree with the politics. As an ESPN watcher, I don't pay much attention to the politics -- any of the politics -- but I swallow the ordinary political stuff and, when some out of the ordinary political stuff happens, wait for people who object to the out-of-the-ordinary politics to whine about keeping the politics, that is to say, somebody else's politics, out of sports. I'm never disappointed.
There is, to be sure, a principled case for keeping all sorts of politics out of sports, but the decision-makers aren't interested in principle; they're interested in what sells their product.
On “When a Local Shooting Becomes a National Story”
Just gathering information here. How many of you have ever been in an armed civilian defense situation? If you have, what weapon did you have? How many shots did you fire?
On “Adopt, Don’t Shop”
To each his own, but I've done both, and all my dogs have been rescues, and I have no regrets.
On “Second Photo Surfaces of Justin Trudeau in Blackface”
There's blackface and there's blackface. My African-American in-laws and friends tell me they have no problem with blackface that is, for example, a respectful homage to an actual black person (I have threatened for years to do Tina Turner, complete with music, but I'd have to shave my facial hair so I haven't followed through), but object to stereotypical "coon" portrayals.
On “Epstein Dead”
It would.
On “Making A Conversation Out of Talking Points”
There's a music app that comes with my phone? I don't have to buy something? I guess I'll call my grand-niece.
"
You want fries with that?
"
Actually, we East Coasters are a welcoming bunch. I encourage a visit.
"
Maybe you should get out to Broadway shows more often.
"
O'Sullivan's law, for those who don't recognize the name, is that any organization that does not start out explicitly right-wing gradually becomes left wing. That's true because, as a different cliche has it, reality has a liberal bias.
"
South Pacific.
"
I'm so technologically inept that I don't even know how to find what podcasts are out there and how to get them.
"
Why is a cop afraid of a black guy with a gun?
You've got to be carefully taught. And who can argue with Rodgers and Hammerstein?
On “Brett Kavanaugh Accusations, Again”
This is the sort of thing that happens when you aren't careful about sourcing and you whoop up stories before you have something solid.
"
Remember all the slurs against the personal character of Robert Bork? I didn't think so. There was a great deal of discussion -- some of it rather heated and more rhetorically purple that some would like, but little of it actually false -- about his record and stated judicial philosophy. How dare anyone criticize the record and stated judicial philosophy of a Supreme Court candidate.
"
Remember all the horrible slurs against Neil Gorsuch?
On “Making A Conversation Out of Talking Points”
This Birth of a Nation/Gone With the Wind version of the Civil War era is what I got in K-12 in the 60's and 70's, even though I was living in what had been a hotbed of abolitionist activity -- perhaps the last progressive impulse in central New York.
"
On the whole, I find general-purpose pundits worse than useless. What do they know that makes me want their advice on anything? Some of the more specialized pundits occasionally provide me with useful information or analysis, but this is rare. One of my persistent fantasies -- for whatever it says about my fantasy life -- is to host a cable news talk show in which I sit at a barstool, identify some burning issue of the day, say that because I don't have the relevant information, I don't have an opinion on it -- and it's likely that you don't, and therefore shouldn't, either. Let's wait and see.
Probably wouldn't last long. Maybe I'd invite useless general-purpose pundits on and when they bloviate, I'd ask them if they have any actual information. That might make it more fun.
On “Joe Biden’s Right”
I used to think everyone ought to do 30 days just on general principles.
"
Back in the 80's, a lot of people, me included, thought more uniformity and predictability in sentencing was a good idea. Still do. But I, and others, underestimated the political incentives for outlandishly high mandatory minimum sentences. So now, with conspicuous exceptions, sentences aren't arbitrary or surprising, but they're generally too damn high.
"
Exactly. For all but the worst violent crimes, as a rule of thumb I'd say 5 years is more than enough, and usually a lot less. When Manafort was sentenced, to much predictable outrage, my position was that I'd like to live in a world where Manafort's sentence was appropriate, but I saw no reason that he should be the first person to get to live in that world.
On “The Democratic Debate: Houston Has Problems, Plans, and Candidates for President”
Yeah, the sarcasm was kind of hard to miss.
On “Pizza in Rome”
My wife and I honeymooned in Spain in 1992. To our surprise, we found that in Seville pizza was popular and excellent. It was the thin-crust style. I don't know if that is still the case, but we hope to find out sometime soon.
On “The Soda Clerk At Home”
It is hard to imagine that a soda jerk could sustain the apparent lifestyle portrayed in the cartoon -- though it is always heartening to see people who take pride in their ability to do their humble work well.
On “Call Me Dr….”
No, it's baseball season. Congratulations Doc. Can you post a link to the thing at some point?
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.